I want to believe
by peach petal9
Summary: Squall and Zell investigate the paranormal and unexplained.
1. Pupu to you too!

The sound of a radio signal off frequency is heard.

Strange lights in the sky…

Unexplained events…

Bizarre creatures of the land…

I have seen them, and I want to believe…

It's time for I Want to Believe, the show for paranormal activities and unexplained phenomena.

Squall walks up to the camera. He is standing in his dorm room. "Good afternoon, I am Squall Leonheart. I have been witness to many strange accounts of paranormal activities. On this show, I will prove the existence of each event. I have my assistant and interviewer, (I can't believe I am doing this), Zell. Zell get over here!"

Zell jumps into the picture."Arrrgh! I'm hear to say, I'm experienced. I've experienced aliens. I was there. It was near my hometown. (Airplane)"

Squall pushes him away."Anyway, as my assistant given away the topic our discussion will be on the existence of extraterrestrials. Our local legend goes by the name of…Pupu."

Zell butts in. "They're kind of like, built like gummy bears. You throw a rock at them and it breaks." He elaborates with his hands.

Squall brings his hand up to his mouth. "Ahem! Here are eyewitness interviews taped by earlier by Zell."

There is the sound of Zell starting up a video. The screen cuts to a poorly shot video. A poster card is held upside down.

Zell and Selphie…. it reads.

"Testing. Kadu! Kadu! OKAY! Now Tilmitt, what do you think about this alien?" He shoves the microphone under her nose. She twists away then brings it to her mouth."Well, you guys told me about seeing some thing like a flying saucer carrying away some large objects."

Zell nods. "Yeah, but did you believe us?"

Selphie is at a loss for words. "Well -…What do you…how should I answer that?"

Zell cringes and stomps his foot. "NOO! I wanna ask the questions!"

"Well then I –"

Zell just pouts. "Ughhhh!"

Selphie: ….

The tape stops and Squall gets up from his homework. He shifts slightly as he talks. "Next Miss Quistis Trepe's interview."

The tape starts again. This time with a card that reads Zell and Quistis. They are standing in the parking lot.

"Miss Trepe is this TT card authentic?"

Quistis nods. "Of course. The intricate design around the card is the best way to tell a TT card's authenticity. As for my encounter, well, I was there to see Pupu itself!"

Zell grins at the screen. "Good! So the card's real and its proof of Pupu's existence! Plus a witness account! How else could it be explained?"

"Well we could have inhaled some gas form where Balamb Garden's pipes were and hallucinated." Quistis adds.

Zell looks at her puzzled. "We were under Garden?"

Quistis looks at him with disbelief. "The crater, Zell. Don't you remember? When Garden took off –"

"No Quistis! Now its all messed up!" He pouts again.

"What? Ugh! Nevermind. Can we cut?" she motions a cut sign as she walks over to the camera and turns it off herself. It goes fuzzy and returns to Squall. He looks even more put off about doing this show.

"Now Zell's interview with, himself. After all, he is a witness." He shakes his head and mutters something softly before the tape starts again. This time is night and difficult to see the screen. Zell is looking into the camera too closely. "Galoob munjum nufter. What happened to me? I saw an alien? Oh no – GAS!" And for no apparent reason he passes out and the video goes black. Squall sighs in embarassment and continues.

"It is said that UFO's have been around linger than we have. But still it is not clear what their intent is on our planet. Could it be some experiment with time travel? Could UFO's be linked with the apparitions of inorganic mechanisms? Could they be coming from an alternate dimension? Or are they here to simply play cards? That is all for today's show. This is Squall for Balamb Station. Stay tuned to the skies."

Notes- I'm sorry for all you Zell fans. He is a little out of sorts. Squall is not happy about doing this show, but like all of his missions, he does them thoroughly and dedicates himself to them. Stay tuned for more mysteries. Peachy!


	2. Parallel absorbed

It's time for another episode for I Want to Believe!

"Zell, I think that 2 gil is evidence. It's not enough for a hot dog anyway."

"But WHYYYY?"

"I can't –Oh! We're on, cue music!"

Zell laughs out loud.

Unidentified flying objects…

Entire civilizations erased from exsistence…

I have seen things…and I want to believe…

The video begins and Squall and Zell are standing in a familiar courtroom. Zell waves to the camera and Squall nudges him. "Hello, I am Squall Leonheart and I am here with my assistant Zell. We we contacted by our special source, whom shall remain nameless…" Zell butts in.

"Heh, heh, yeah!"

"…to look into the mysteries of the Ultros attack." Squall finished.

"Hi, nameless!" Zell waves to the screen. Squall grabs Zell by his jacket and pulls him to the center of the room. "Zell, get over there. Stand where I told you to."

"Oh no." Zell says as he walks up a ladder. Squall pulls the camera towards him. "My assistant is about to demonstrate the law of physics. This is why this case is not getting the proper attention it deserves. They believe it is just a case of a missing person, whom may be hiding intentionally." Squall look up. "Ready, Zell."

"Ok! This is what really happened." Zell could be heard yelling from above. "KA-DUUU!" he yelled as he plummeted down and crashed into the floor. Squall walks over and peers over the edge of the hole in the floor. Zell gets up slowly and shakes his head. It's the only thing you can see as he stands up. "Huh? Did the floor splash, cuz I think I'm under it."

Squall shakes his head. " No, Zell you didn't. However, you proved a vital point. You have showed the skeptics of the world that Locke did not just crash through the floor. It would have left an impressionable hole, like this one. Zell, don't get up from there, I have another experiment using you." He looked at the camera.

"Now we believe there could be several possiblities. We just have to see which one is correct. Zell, what is under there?"

Zell looks around. "Weird stuff, huh? Oh no, not again! It's—GAS!" He suddenly begins to slump over, but Squall grabs him before he collapses and slaps him.

"Snap out of it! Start digging around down there. Let us know what you find. You're my assistant now assist me." Squall lets out a sigh and turns back to the camera. "Now my colleagues, if you are wondering what we are looking for, we are in search of parallel dimensions. Perhaps Locke fell into Ultros' lair of some kind. I mean, this Ultros character obviously wasn't born from this world. Zell will hunt for the secret gate to his lair."

He taps his foot for a moment, then his face lights up for a moment. "Oh, I guess I should give him something in case he falls in and can't get out." He walks over to a table and tosses a camera at Zell. It hits him on the head and the flash goes off.

"Ugh!"

Squall squats down and points at him. "If you fall in, just take a picture of what it looks like and toss it back out."

Zell grins and flashes him an OK sign. " I shall dig." Squall waits there listening to his partner scuffle around below.

"Hey, this is something!" There's a flash.

"And this!" Another flash.

"Wow!" Two flashes.

"I don't know what this is but-" He takes a picture anyway.

His head pops out. "Hey, I found a box!"

Squall actually smiles at this. "Great! Evidence folks, of what may have happened to the missing bailiff. Give it here." Zell lets out a laugh.

"Yeah! Who needs those other guys when you got SeeD on the case." Suddenly Zell begins to sink. "Whoa, uhhn! Squall I'm sinking! KADU!" He reached out towards Squall who moves away looking disgusted at him.

"My shoe! It's, it's being absorbed! Quick, with my last effort, I shall throw you the box!" Zell tosses up the box and quickly falls to the ground. Squall catches it easily and gets up. "Thanks…now let's see…oh yeah! I want to see you get absorbed. Folks, I will record this fantastic experience and post it on the garden website. So here we go."

Squall moves the camera over and peers into the huge hole. He sighs with frustration as he sees Zell sliding backwards. "Zell you boob! You're not sinking, your foot is sliding backwards on a piece of plastic!"

Squall moves back and frowns at the camera. "Sorry folks, no parallel dimension. Well, let us keep this box and open it and the end of the show. I also have theories tghat suggest black holes, electrical storms, and pupus. Zell, get up here!"

Zell is still on the ground but obviously not going anywhere. "No, I'm absorbed!"

"No, you're not. Now get up here. I want you to look for black holes and electrical storms. Start over there." Squall points to the judge's stand. Zell still pouts. "But WHYYY? Look, no shoe!" He points to his foot that is shoeless.

Squall puts his hands on his hips. "I have your shoe. You wanted me to hold onto it when we got here." There is a moment of silence as Squall pulls out Zell's shoe from his pack and stares at it. Zell just stares back helplessly.

"I forgot to ask…why?" Squall looks at him confused.

Zell fidgets with his hands. "Because it was absorbed." He says softly.

Squall sighs, not wanting to press the matter. "Here's your shoe. **Not absorbed**! Well, we are running out of time, so let's find out what's in the box. Open it, Zell."

His partner jumps out of the hole and sits down on the floor with the wooden box between his legs. "Okay, hey it's a note!" He reads it out loud.

"It says, 'You're a- Tiggerbom? Ugh!" he yells out in frustration. "Oh wait, there's more. 'Go to Centra and watch the skies. Hmmm! Tiggerbom!" Zell looks to see who wrote the letter. "Why that-Urgh! Ifrit!"

Suddenly Ifrit pops out. "NOW THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Zell shakes a fist at him. "But—WHYYYY?"

Ifrit waves a nonchalant hand at him. "I'm busy." Then disappears.

Before Zell can reply, Squall grabs his arm. "Hold on a sec, there's a girl over there watching us, perhaps she's a witness. Excuse me miss."

Terra snaps out of her dreamy state and smiles bashfully at Squall. "Um, yes?"

"We have time for a few short questions. Did you see what happened here, miss..?"

"Oh, Terra Branford, the real reporter. Are you special forces?" She asks.

Zell nods. "We're lookin' to see what happened to the dude. No shoe." He points to his foot. She stares at it uneasily. "Uh, yes."

She turns back to Squall. He nods at her. "You could say that. We look into what many others are afraid to find. Did you witness the strange occurrence?"

"Well, it's hard to say. Some little stick girl keeps poking her nose into my work." She begins to fiddle with the lapels of his leather jacket. "She tries to be a reporter. She's so annoying! Her attitude is horrible, and her big mouth running all the time. Oh, you have no idea."

"Actually, we do know a girl like that." Zell responds. Terra simply pushes in front of him to get Squall's attention. "Oh, I saw some of what happened. Ultros attacked and after the fight he splashed into the floor. Bailiff Locke Cole tried to apprehend him, but-…THAT GIRL GOT IN THE WAY!"

Squall doesn't know if he can trust this girl's word. "Uh, OK. Well, there you have it. There's got to be reason for this. Why Locke? Where did he go? Will he return and in what condition? Will someone else be taken too?"

Squall stands in front of the camera and crosses his arms across his chest. "There have been reports of entire towns being taken by strange gates. Is Ultros behind it all? And-"

Terra swoons and drapes herself over Squall. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Suddenly Judge Gestal walks and looks around, furious. "Hey, who put this big hole here? Who's going to pay for that!"

Squall grabs Zell. "Damn! Miss let go! Zell, we've got to get out of here! Get her off of me!" Zell takes the shoe and tosses it at her. "Ow!" She let's go. The boys make a break for it. "Stay tuned for our next show!"

End.


	3. The Quads

I'm back! Here is your next show!

Unidentified Objects in the Sky…

Strange Creatures in the Deep…

Entire civilizations erased from exsistance..

"I have seen things, and I want to believe…"

Squall steps out of his dorm room and holds up the hand-held camera. "Hello and good evening to you all. This is the show 'I Want to Believe'. I'd like to start off by saying thank you to all of the viewers for, remaining silent about the courtroom incident."

Zell jumps in and laughs out loud. "Heh heh! I'm Zell!"

Squall moves the camera away from him, irritated. "They know that already. Thank the viewers for not turning you in."

"They wouldn't do that! We get letters from adoring fans talking about our show!" Zell nods his head with confidence.

Squall shrugs and continues. "To show our appreciation, we are going to give you a show that will really expose the unexplainable. Tonight…Zell hit the lights quick!" The two boys dash into their dorms, shut the door, and turn of the lights. Nothing can be seen but an announcement comes on overhead.

"Attention, Curfew hours are in effect. Please return to your dorms and turn off all lights and remain indoors. Tonight, curfew extends to all student levels. Repeat…"

A little flashlight goes on and Squall's face is illuminated. "Get ready." He whispers.

"Heh heh! Got it!" Zell starts to snore loudly. A shadow slips by their door to check if they are in.

Squall whispers as the figure goes down the hall. "Even though curfew is in effect, it's not going to stop us from doing our show. In fact, it's giving us the exact environment we need to do this show. Tonight, Zell and I are going to inspect the Quads."

The young men stand up and Squall opens the door a crack to check if its safe. "The quads are mostly known to the student body as Lover's Lane. However, there is more to the Quads than that." He turns to Zell, "OK, the coast is clear."

They open the door and step out into the dimly lit hallway. "Alright! What are we gonna check out? Or maybe I should say who are we gonna check out?" Zell slaps him on the back and winks.

Squall just stares back and replies. "We are going ghost hunting."

Zell's face pales and he backs away slowly. "HUH? NO! I mean wait!" He runs into the room and Squall walks after him. He peeks in to find Zell rummaging through his belongings.

"Zell what are you-

"Shhh!" Zell brings a finger to his lips and gives him a look of scolding. He grabs a box and sits down on the ground. He begins to pull off his shoes and places them tenderly into the box and closes it up.

Squall sighs and shifts his weight onto his other foot. "Ok are-

"SHHH!" Zell silences his partner again. Squall realizes Zell has slipped on a white ceremonial garb used in exercising demons. He begins to make wards with white notepad paper and a black pastel crayon.

"Zell where did you-

"Rrrrgh! SHHH!" Zell sticks the papers all over the box and finally places the box under his bed. He gets up and dusts himself off.

"There!"

Squall stares at him and then looks to the box. He looks back at the strange boy who is back in his casual clothes. He blinks with shock and amazement. Zell just shrugs.

"It's not that I fear for my life or anything, but ya know…" he just leaves it at that as he walks back out into the hallway.

Squall follows. "Zell just…" he takes one look and sighs. "Let's go."

They walk quietly down the hallway as Squall begins to talk. "Ok we are heading to the Quads. First, let me say a few things about the ghosts here."

Zell lets out a small whine.

"The Quads have stories that go back to the actual days of construction of the Garden. One story was about a man who went to find his partner who was supposed to be helping him carry bricks and-

Selphie hears the two boys and pokes her head around the corner. "Hey Squall! What are you guys up to this late at night?"

"We're ghost hunting." He replies. Zell just lets out a louder whine.

Selphie nods. "Uh, ok! So you're breaking curfew."

Squall frowns. "No, we are on an official mission for the global broadcasting system to open all of the minds of the close-minded and prove to them there is a realm of extreme possibilities! What are you up to Selphie?"

"Getting out, every night it's the same thing at my dorm. Curfew! Curfew! What Nazis. Well," She smiles at them, "since I hate anything that has to do with ghosts…BYEE!" She trots off to her room again.

This leaves the boys by themselves again and they continue their exploration. They get to the entrance. "Well, let's set up here. Wow, for Lover's Lane this place sure looks depressing."

"That's just you, you know." Zell gives him pat. Squall slaps his hand away, glaring at him. "Makes for a better atmosphere if you ask me, I hope it stays this way from now on. Couples out here necking all of the time, it's disgusting."

"Somebody's got issues!" Zell grins.

"Shut up! Start panning the camera over there." He snaps.

Zell gets back into his energetic mode. "Okay! Hey, they shut off all of the lights except the dim yellow one and there's one that's flickering."

"The flickering one is the recording light." Squall hits him on the head. "Oww!"

"Sounds like we got amateurs on patrol tonight." A familiar voice calls out. They turn around and spot Rajin, Fujin, and Seifer. "Hey look, it's the chicken and he's holding a camera. Is that what you call TV dinner?"

He's the only one to laugh at his joke. Zell glares at him. "You! We hafta be quiet! We're lookin' for ghosts you Crystal Murphy!"

"CHICKEN!" Fujin shouts.

Rajin frowns. "Yo Fujin tone it down. Crystal Murphy? What the heck is that? That boy can't even talk right, ya know? That should be somethin' you should investigate, Squeak. Don't you think so Seifer?"

Their leader doesn't reply.

"That's lame, Rajin. Why are you guys out here anyway? You're scaring away all of the ghosts. Get lost!" Squall grabs Zell and starts to walk away.

"We're out here 'cuz we ain't afraid of some stupid curfews! We're out 'cuz we want to be out! Why are we out here?" He asks the other two.

"Strange noises in the room next door kept me awake. I didn't want to listen to that crap." Seifer yawned and started walking back towards the dorms.

"Hey wait!" Rajin starts after him but Fujin grabs his arm and tugs him in a different direction.

"Eww! Make out session! Huh?" It suddenly goes pitch black. In the light of the red recording button, little can be made out.

"Hey! SQUALL!"

"Not now, Zell."

"I can't see!"

"You could never see in the first place!"

"Whaddya mean? Of course I can see!"

"Then what are you complaining about?"

"It's too dark! I can't see!"

"You could never see anything!"

"That's not true!"

"Man, look at yourself!"

"But I can't!"

"That's what-" Squall sighs, "Nevermind, this is pointless. Didn't you bring the night goggles from the supplies room?"

"I-I'm scared! Uh! A GHOST!"

"Zell?"

"Quick Squall!" Suddenly, Squall feels clammy hands on his ankles.

"HEY!"

"Gimme your shoes! I'll protect them!"

"No way! Let go of me you idiot!" They scuffle for a moment and he pushes Zell away.

"Squall! I'm slipping! I'm gonna fall!"

"Then fall without me!" Squall tries to back away but it's too late. Zell grabs his jacket. They both fall over and down a narrow duct.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" They both cry.

There's a crash and the camera goes fuzzy for a moment. As is cuts back on, there is a small light from a flashlight hitting Zell in the face. "I can't see!"

"I prove my point." Squall growls. "Where are we? It looks like we fell through some secret tunnel. There's light up ahead."

He turns Zell around and pushes him towards the light. They crawl clumsily through trying to hold the camera and the flashlight.

"I can hear machinery. I think we are in the basement of the garden. Huh? There's a sign."

They come out of the duct and stand up. The machines whirl and buzz loudly. Squall looks at the sign. "It says, 'Area II' hmmm."

Suddenly, Zell perks up. "Huh?" He sniffs around. "Something smells…good!" He starts wandering around and Squall has to catch up to him. He sniffs the air and groans. "Aw man, this was what I was afraid of."

He follows him. Zell turns a corner and gasps. "IT'S…"

"Zell, no! It looks as if we have stumbled upon garden's secret stash of gourmet hot dogs."

Zell begins to spaz.

Squall turns the camera back to him. "Well, in all, I suppose we did make an interesting discovery, even if it wasn't our intended one. Sometimes our failures teach us more than our successes. Please tune in next time for I Want to Believe. We've got to get out of here. Give me my shoe! NO DON'T FILL IT WITH HOT DOGS!"

End.

I have always wondered what makes those hot dogs so darn good that Zell can't get any. Hmmm. Thank you for the reviews. I love them. Peachy!


End file.
